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Sara Samad

Six Noteworthy Stories You Might Have Missed in Lebanon This Week (6/21)

You’re busy, we get it. No sweat. Here’s some of the most important news stories you might have missed from the past week.

1. Police Raid Hamra Hotel for Terror Suspects


Security Forces raided the Napoleon Hotel on Hamra’s Makdessi street and arrested 17 people after a tip off that suspects involved in a ploy to assassinate Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri were staying there. According to The Daily Star newspaper, all roads in Hamra leading to the Napoleon Hotel were blocked by approximately 200 police officers at around 10:00 a.m. The assassination plot is allegedly linked to the cancellation of a conference in Beirut planned for Berri’s Amal Movement.

2. Suicide Attack Rocks Police Checkpoint in East Lebanon

(Photo via The Daily Star)

At least two people were killed after a suicide attack on a Lebanese police checkpoint on the Beirut-Damascus highway. The blast targeted an Internal Security Forces checkpoint in Dahr al-Baidar near the Beirut-Damascus highway. At least 18 people were wounded in the explosion. Reports claim the rigged car was headed towards Beirut from the Bekaa Valley when it stopped at the checkpoint.

3. Zghorta Mayor Killed in Traffic Accident
(Photo via The Daily Star)

Zhorta town Mayor Toufik Moawad was killed in a traffic accident on the Karantina highway Thursday. Moawad was driving his Audi SUV when it struck the back of a Sukleen garbage truck parked on the side of the road.

He was rushed to the nearby Haddad Hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries.

According to The Daily Star, the truck was in violation of Lebanon’s new traffic law, passed in November 2012, as it lacked an underride guard rail – metal barriers attached to the back of a truck to prevent a car from sliding beneath the vehicle.

4. Rafiq Hariri International Hospital Stops Receiving Patients

(Photo via MTV news)

Employees at the Rafiq Hariri Hospital announced Monday that they had stopped receiving patients, closing both the main entrance and the emergency department’s entrance. Employees will continue care for patients currently present in the hospital but will not receive new ones until their overdue salaries and payments have been provided. The Rafiq Hariri University Hospital is the largest public hospital in Lebanon.

5. World Cup Supporter Murdered

(Photo via The Daily Star)

A Syrian national was murdered Monday after the Germany-Portugal World Cup match, according to The Daily Star newspaper. The murder was initially reported as an accidental death due to celebratory gunfire, however, after further investigation it was discovered that he was shot in the head at his apartment in Aramoun after a dispute with a family member.

6. Future TV Mistakes Party for Satanic Gathering


Future TV aired a report claiming that alcohol producer Jaegermeister sponsored and marketed a “black mass” in a deserted house off the Dora Highway. They aired images of alleged blood splattered on walls and spider webs dangling from corners of the house, as well as fake bodies dangling from nooses attached to the ceiling as evidence of their claims. The scenes portrayed were actually the remnants of a themed party thrown in the house on Friday, June 13. The party was sponsored and marketed by NRJ and Jaegermeister.